QUEZON POLICE SPECIAL TASK GROUP TO PROBE TOWN COUNCILOR’S SLAY
LUCENA under the special investigation task group (SITG) of the Quezon provincial police have been directed to identify a “person of interest” in the killing of Dolores town Councilor Orlando Barsomo on Friday.
“Our aim is to immediately arrest the killer and resolve the murder case to bring justice to the slain councilor,” Quezon police director Col. Ledon Monte said in a phone interview on Saturday.
Barsomo, 47, was shot by a still unidentified assailant at 3:15 a.m. while the councilor was having his daily walk in Barangay Dagatan of the town. The gunman fled after the shooting and left his target dead from two fatal gunshot wounds.
Monte disclosed that the SITG investigators were reviewing video footage from a closed-circuit television camera in the vicinity of the crime scene.
Big man with big heart
But Monte admitted that the video was not conclusive as it was taken from two short separate moments.
“Still, it was clear that the gunman had first confronted the victim then returned and shot him,” the police official said.
Barsomo, a bachelor, had no enemies, had not engaged in altercations in the past or even raised his voice against anyone in the community, according to Mayor Orlan Calayag.
He was described by his colleagues in the local government as “a big man with a big heart.”
Barsomo served as Dagatan barangay chair for three terms. He was serving his last term as councilor when killed.
In a message to Barsomo’s family and constituents, Monte said the police would not stop until they arrested the shooter.
“From the information we now have, it is already sufficient for the task group to pursue a track to resolve the killing,” he said.